No. 1 Bulldogs Head to N.Y. to Finish Out the Fall Season

Emily Billing and Margot Benedict.

Nov 10, 2011

Atlantic Coast Championship hosted by New York Maritime Academy

NEW HAVEN, Conn. – The fall women's collegiate sailing season will come to a close at the end of the Women's Atlantic Coast Championship this weekend. The regatta is to be hosted by the New York Maritime Academy, in Throggs Neck, N.Y. After holding the No. 1 national ranking for virtually the entire season, the Yale women's sailing team is looking to finish out on top. The team's results over the past several weekends certainly prove that its members have what it takes to succeed.

The Bulldogs have finished no worse than fourth in any regatta all season long, but that alone does not say it all. In a season that posed exceptionally challenging conditions on most weekend events—a season that lost two regattas in their entirety due to weather— the Bulldogs have sailed in a way that has allowed nobody to question their status as a top contender. Also, if one looks back at the results from this season they will notice the immense depth that Yale's team has cultivated. A variety of skipper-crew combinations were utilized to achieve strong results at each weekend regatta.

In fact, the Yale team is so indiscriminately confident in all of its team members that the coaches have yet to announce the starting lineup for this weekend's event. The sailors that will travel with the team, though, are the same names that have been read about all season. For skippers, junior Claire Dennis, junior Emily Billing, sophomore Marlena Fauer and freshman Morgan Kiss will all be ready to race come Saturday morning. Joining the skippers will be their invaluable crews: sophomore Amanda Salvesen, sophomore Anna Han, sophomore Eugenia Custo Greig and freshman Kate Gaumond.

Seeing as this is to be the second weekend in November, the weather forecast is remarkably good, for New Englanders. The temperature is never supposed to drop below the mid-40s and winds are predicted to range from 10-13 miles per hour from the southwest. However, considering the season's propensity for rapidly changing forecasts, the competitors should probably be prepared for anything.

After a two, three finish by Dennis and Billing at the ICSA Women's Singlehanded Nationals last weekend, the Bulldogs look to carry the momentum from that event into this weekend. They did what they needed to do to qualify for the ACC's at the Victorian Coffee Urn two weekends ago and now it is time to hold nothing back. Upon stepping out of their boats after the last race on Sunday, more than three months will have to pass before the sailors can hop back in for the spring season.